£5 billion property sale planned
Tesco has reported record pre-tax profits of£2.21 billion, an increase of 16.7 per cent, in its full-year results published today.

The supermarket giant experienced strong sales for the year to February 25. Domestic sales rose 10.7 per cent and sales abroad increased by 23 per cent.

In the UK, like-for-like sales were up 7.5 per cent, non-food sales up 13 per cent and sales at Tesco.com rose 32 per cent to almost£1 billion.

In a statement the group said increased sales could be attributed to a larger number of customers, as well as a rise in customer spend per visit.

Chief executive Terry Leahy said: 'These results represent good progress across the group in a more challenging year.'

Tesco has also announced it has set aside£100 million to fund sustainable environmental technology. Wind turbines will be installed at some stores alongside solar and geothermal power. The company will also be trialling gasification - a new technology to turn waste into clean, sustainable energy.

The group also announced plans to release£5 billion from its property portfolio over the next five years through a sale and leaseback deal. Of this,£1.5 billion will be used to buy back shares.

Internationally, Tesco opened 238 stores last year, including 72 hypermarkets. There are plans to open a further 392 stores this financial year. The group operates 814 stores internationally.

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